A Kataang Adventure
by AlwaysOneStepBehind
Summary: Kataang. While travelling together to fight the firelord, they not only learn a lot about each other's past and regrets, they also learn a thing or two about love. Genre: Action/Adventure/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort/Romance.
1. The Meeting

**Hay!! This is my first fanfic ever (Even though it has been sitting in my computer forever and the storyline has not been leaving me alone lately so I thought I may as well put it online) so be nice but not too nice…just tell me what you think and if I should carry on…Enjoy!!**

**Disclaimer: You guys are so mean for making me say this but…I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender…I'm gonna go cry now…Thanks a lot!!!**

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"Another one?" A young girl whispered to herself. She ripped a piece of paper off a notice board and pulled her hood back to get a better look at it.

'_Hah, they actually got a good picture of me' _She thought _"…And they upped the price to 5,000 gold pieces' _She snickered as she screwed up the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. She grabbed her hood and pulled it over her face and was about to walk off when she heard rustling from the bushes behind her…

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"I know you're tired boy but we'll stop soon okay?" A shaggy, brown haired kid asked his furry white beast he was riding. The beast gave a low growl in return.

"I know we've been flying for two days straight, but we have to get to the North Pole to find me a teacher and we have to do it fast!" The beast growled louder and started to shake his head around making the boy grab the reins so he doesn't plummet to his death.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" He exclaimed frustrated. "Look! I think there's a clearing over there" He said pointing straight ahead. The furry mammal saw this and accelerated faster to get there. "Oh so now you go faster" The boy grumbled to himself as he sat back and crossed his arms in a huff trying desperately to blow the annoying bits of hair out of his eyes.

The boy sat up and looked curiously at the clearing. "Is that fog?" he asked unsure so he squinted to get a better look. "Fire Nation!" He grabbed his staff from behind him and stood looking ready to fight.

"What small town village are the burning down now?" He asked as the ventured closer and closer to the black and grey wall.

His serious face started to light up as an idea crossed his mind. He kneeled down and patted his friends head. "How about a subtle approach boy?" With a load roar and a powerful swish of its tail they ascended high into the clouds above the clearing…

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The young girl pivoted on the spot with one hand reaching towards her water skin and extracted some water out of it. She widened her stance and prepared herself for what was coming. "Whe…" Upon feeling something sharp in the middle of her back she scoffed and carried on. "Hm, you've gotten smarter, I'm impressed" She calmly and slowly put her water back into her water skin and stood out of her fighting stance and upright.

"No you're just getting sloppy" An icy voice dripped through her ears making her shiver unnoticeably to her captors. The person made his way to face her as the girl lowered her head, he dug in the inner pocket of his armor and pulled out a piece of paper and put it next to her face. He grabbed her hood and ripped it back to reveal her.

When she didn't react to his movement he placed two fingers under her chin to lift her head up and face him but she, unsurprisingly, shook him off. Feeling frustrated, he grabbed her chin with more force and lifted her hatred filled eyes to his smug golden eyes. He looked at her and back at the paper for a little while until a smirk crossed his face.

"I knew it was you at my campsite" He said accusingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about Captain Tzu" She replied coolly

He tightened his grip on her bottom jaw and raised his voice slightly. "Don't toy with me you waterbender peasant!" He glared at her but found it hard to keep it up as her face was showing nothing but hatred. He let her go and turned away.

"Even if you're not the one I'm looking for…" He looked at the piece of paper in his hands then quickly glanced back at her. "…I'll still get paid my weight in gold for your capture." He informed her smirking. "Let's go men!" He commanded his troops.

The spear that's lightly pointed in her back prodded her to move forward but she wasn't going silently. "Move!" The owner of the spear spoke up and prodded her again.

"And if I don't?" She asked dangerously.

"I'll make you!"

The young waterbender snickered while grabbing her hood and pulling it back on and over her eyes. Once it was on securely she relaxed her arms by her sides and spoke: "I highly doubt that" Before the spearman had time to react she reached back and grasped the spear and spun so she was facing the soldier and using her other hand in one swift movement she hit the top of the weapon with an open palm, causing it to hit him under his chin and snap his head back which made him fly and fall flat on his back with a loud thud. One of the other men saw her do this and shot a fireball at her which she easily dodged with the spear in hand but ignited in the grass causing a fire.

The girl proving to be more powerful than she looks broke the spear in half and threw the remains away. The rest of the men except Captain Tzu, who watched carefully from the outside of the half circle, surrounded her with either flames or weapons occupying their hands. The smoke from the fire in the background it started to obscure their vision of everyone.

"6 men against 1 girl? Doesn't seem fair for you" She said smugly as she sank into her stance with water at the ready.

She was prepared to fight when she heard something growl and a huge gust of wind ripped at her jacket. She instinctively grabbed her hood in place and looked up curiously and spoke to herself. "What was that?" But that one distraction was enough to leave her open for an attack…

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While ascending the boy looked down and saw someone surrounded by fire nation soldiers but they were all looking up at him except for two. One lying flat on their back looking to be unconscious and the other firing a fireball at the one in the middle.

"I think we'll work on the whole subtle thing another time boy" He said to his furry companion. "Okay buddy! You know what to do!" The boy exclaimed excitedly as he grabbed his staff. The beast swished his tail powerfully and did a big back flip making the boy fall off and plummet head first towards earth…

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"You really like your cheap shots don't you Captain?" She asked through gritted teeth while she clutched her burnt upper arm.

"Get her men!" He commanded.

They started to close the distance with spears pointing dangerously close. The girl dropped her hand from her injury and extracted more water out of her water skin to defend herself but, all of a sudden a huge gust of air hit the ground right in front of the soldiers making them fall back onto their backs. The girl stared at them incredulously on the ground.

"What the heck?" She put her water back into her water skin and tried to look behind her through the thick smoke but didn't see anyone. It took her a little while to realize that the fire was out and all that was left was scorched grass as the only evidence of there being a fire. She looked around but again to no avail she saw no one. She stared at the blackened grass in disbelief. "How did that happen?" She asked herself.

Her thinking was cut short as a spearman started to charge her. Again she lowered in her stance with her water available and with her other hand she tugged her hood lower…

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As the boy was falling he shook his staff a little and out came wings on the top and bottom and either sides of his staff. He grabbed on to the top with his hands and hooked his feet on another part at the other end; he then managed to pull up a bit.

As he got closer he saw a girl clutching her arm, he also heard a man yell: "Get her men!" The boy knew he had to act fast so he unhooked his feet and grabbed the staff firmly in his hands and with his tongue sticking out in concentration he gave a powerful swing in a full 360. The blast pushed the men back and extinguished the flame.

He then barrel rolled in the air and opened the wings to his staff again and glided to the nearest tree to watch the girl fight. While watching the fight he quietly criticized to himself.

He watched closely and saw that one firebender was still standing and in pure spur of the moment he found himself at top speed, gliding inches off the ground heading directly for them…

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She was breathing a little heavier as unconscious fire nation bodies were lying around her and their Captain. Both fighters watching the other closely, waiting for their opportune moment to attack. The girl was about to attack when, in the distance something approached at a high speed.

"What is that?" She asked as she pointed behind Captain Tzu. He, on the other hand, thought it was a trick.

"You really think I'm that stupid?" He asked as he was about to throw fire at her when the thing took his legs out from under him and made him land on his head which instantly knocked him out.

"Yeah actually I do" She replied triumphantly standing over his body.

She turned around and peered out from under her hood to look for the person or thing that was responsible for helping her. To her disappointment she didn't see anything. "Did I imagine all of that?" She asked herself puzzled.

"Nope!" The girl yelped, turned and subconsciously extracted water from her water skin preparing to fight.

"Woah, easy!" A boy said putting his hands up in a placating gesture.

"What are you doing sneaking up on people like that?!" She asked flustered.

"I didn't sneak up on you! I just landed in front of you but you turned around before you saw me!" He said defensively.

She raised her eyebrow at him and queried: "Did you just say 'landed?'"

"Yeah" He said looking at her like she was stupid.

She was going to ask more but didn't like the look he gave her so she turned and started to walk away. "Whatever".

"Wait! What's your name?" He asked and jogged to follow her.

"What's it to ya?" She asked sourly.

"Well, my name's Aang and I just wanted to know if you travel by yourself." He asked curiously

"Yeah, I do" She answered simply.

"Why?"

"'cos I like being by myself"

"Why?"

The girl rounded on Aang feeling annoyed. "What's with the 20 questions?!" She asked through clenched teeth.

"It wasn't 20…" He began and counted on his fingers to annoy her more and held up four. "…It was only 4 questions!"

"Ugh!! You're just a kid!" She said exasperatedly.

"Hey! I'm 15! I would say that you're only…" He looked at her up and down. He noticed that she likes to keep herself hidden under her hood. Her startling blue eyes boring into him and her dark hair flows freely from her hood and frames what he can see of her face. _'Wow, she's pretty'_ He thought. Realizing that he's taking longer than he should to look at her he carried on. "…16. Not much difference!"

"UGH!" She groaned and carried on walking away but at a faster pace.

"Why were those people attacking you?" Aang asked following her again.

"I don't know, maybe because I'm not fire nation" She replied sarcastically.

"But you had to have done something wrong to provoke them like that" He pointed out.

"Maybe I did, Maybe I didn't, who cares." She shrugged and automatically pulled her hood down further. She turned around to face Aang but carried on walking backwards carelessly. "I think the question here is: did you help me out back there, with those firebenders?"

He rubbed the back of his neck feeling embarrassed. "Umm, yeah"

"How? I mean I didn't even see or hear you!"

"I used airbending to knock those soldiers back and to extinguish the flames. And this…" He said raising his free hand to show the girl that airbending opens the wings to his staff. "…Is my glider. This allows me to control the air currents around me, making me fly."

"Wait, you're an Airbender?" She asked in disbelief.

He smiled and nodded proudly in reply.

"Haven't seen one of your kind in a while." She said recklessly while turning around to walk forward.

"Yeah, neither have I" He replied sadly.

The girl felt a pang of guilt hit her for speaking without thinking. "S- -"

"Don't be sorry" Aang said anticipating it. "You couldn't do anything to help"

They carried on walking in silence until Aang broke it. "Where are you heading?"

"The North Pole" She informed him. "I know the basics to waterbending but I need to perfect my technique" She explained simply.

"Well that makes two of us"

She stopped and rounded on him curiously. "You? Why is an Airbender going to the North Pole?"

"Because I…umm have…family there" Aang replied tugging on his collar nervously.

"You're such a bad liar." She said smirking a little. "But whatever business you have there is none of mine."

He smiled sheepishly at her and an idea crossed his mind. "Why don't we travel together?"

"I've come this far by myself, I don't need any help" She said pulling her hood down to conceal her eyes even more.

"But the North Pole City is surrounded by water. How are you going to get there?"

She stopped in her tracks; she hadn't thought that far ahead. At least with the South Pole there was a snowy track to follow. "You know, I have no idea but, I'll think of something. How are you getting there?"

"On Appa"

"On whatta?" She asked confused.

"No Appa, my flying Bison which I should probably call him over now" Aang said while fishing around his various pockets. After a while of incoherent mumbling he pulled out a funny shaped whistle and blew on it.

She raised her eyebrow at him because she didn't hear anything but; Aang just smiled cheekily at her and pointed up to the sky. She looked up in the sky waiting for something to show up. When nothing did she looked expectantly at Aang again who held up a finger, gesturing for her to be patient.

He smiled and started to count down. "5…4…3…"

Her ear started to register something big coming.

"…2…"

She then saw in the distance a big white furry beast and grabbed her hood to secure it on her head.

"…1"

It landed with a ground shaking thud and the girl looked amazed at it. Aang walked over to him and patted him.

"This is my Sky Bison: Appa. Appa this is…uh…the person we helped."

She made her way cautiously towards the Bison and slowly lifted he hand to pat him. She smiled as her hand made contact with his surprisingly soft fur. "Hi Appa"

Appa growled nicely and licked her. "Hey!" She giggled "Gross!"

"I think he likes you" Aang pointed out amused.

"Just as long as he doesn't like the taste and tries to eat me later on" She mumbled to herself.

"So what do you say?" She turned her attention to Aang. "Come with us, that way you'll be able to get to the North Pole quicker and I'll be able to talk to someone." Aang bargained with her. Appa growled a little at Aang. "Not that I don't like talking to you" He said reassuringly to Appa.

The girl smiled a little at the relationship of boy and Sky Bison. "You wanna?" He asked hopeful. She looked at him and knew it was a good idea.

She nodded. "Okay"

"Great!" Aang said excitedly. He went over to her and hooked his arm around her waist. "Hey! What're you- -" She started to protest but was interrupted.

"Hold on!" With a blast of wind he got himself and the girl onto Appa's saddle.

"That was…exciting!" She said stumbling and a little out of breath.

Aang smiled cheekily at her then unhooked his arm from her waist, jumped on Appa's head and grabbed the reins. "First time flyer, hold on to something" He said excitedly. "Yip yip!" The girl grabbed her hood and held onto it securely.

She waited expectantly to fly through the sky, but all she got was Appa's grunts in protest.

"Come one boy, yip yip" Aang desperately said while tugging at the reins.

Another grunt emitted from Appa's mouth. Aang turned around to look at the girl smiling sheepishly at her while rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed. "Okay, first time flyer. Appa is a bit tired and I told him we'll stop but we ended up helping you instead so, we're off tomorrow!"

She shrugged and stood up to get off. "Okay and by the way Aang…" She began.

"Hm?"

"…My name is Katara" She said to him then turned to walk off of Appa's tail.

He gently smiled at her retreating form and whispered to himself. "Katara…"

**Well, there you go, my first chapter!! WOO!!! Please R&R I need feedback for my writing.**

**Thanks for reading:D**


	2. Found Out

**Okay, so I know it has been a very long time since I have updated this story but I have been so busy!!! But the main thing is that I'm updating now:D**

**Also, just remember that Katara is just learning to waterbend okay? Okay**

**Disclaimer: If I didn't own it in the first chapter do you really think I'll own anything in this chapter...? I don't think so!!**

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"Come on Uncle! We have to catch up to him!" A young man with a scar covering his left eye called behind him.

"But how do you know it's him?" The Uncle replied.

I know it's him Uncle, I can tell!" He forcibly told him. "Just trust me!"

His Uncle managed to step in front of his nephew and grab his shoulders. "I do Zuko! I just don't want your hopes to go up and then have them crushed because this boy is not the Avatar!" His Uncle reassured him.

Zuko grabbed his hands and took them off his shoulders. "You don't need to worry, because tonight, we're capturing the Avatar." He said as they reached a clearing.

"Prince Zuko, look!" A man with the same clothes and weapons as the one's that Aang and Katara fought. He pointed towards a patch of black grass and watched as Zuko bent down and touched the grass. "It's fresh, he can't have gone far." He said standing up, looking towards the woods.

"Move out!" He commanded as they walked towards the woods.

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Aang and Katara are sitting at opposite ends of their small campfire, eating the meal that Aang offered to cook while Katara got some water for them.

"So, you're telling me that you have been living off seal jerky for the past two months?" Aang asked her doubtfully.

"And papaia's...even though I don't like them. I'd rather have mangos." She said like it was nothing.

"I still can't believe that" Aang said shaking his head.

"Well, you travel; you should know that you use what you can get"

"I guess that's true"

"This is really good! What is it?" Katara asked with a mouth full of half eaten food.

"An airbender secret specialty" Aang replied proudly.

"Cool! What's in it?"

Aang stopped mid-chew and stared incredulously at her. "What part of 'airbender secret specialty' don't you get?"

Katara swallowed and looked up at Aang from under her hood and through the flames with a cheeky smile plastered to her face. "The whole thing"

"Figures" He replied while rolling his eyes at her.

"Hey!" She protested before waterbending some water over Aang, cupping her mouth and exhaling an icy breath which froze him to his seat.

"Oh come on!" Aang said struggling to break free. "I was only joking!"

Katara smiled and shrugged at him. "So am I." She replied as she clenched her fist at the ice to make it melt.

Aang sighed his thank you and took another bite out of his food, but just as it touched his tongue he spat it out straight away. "Uck, it's soggy and cold!"

Katara laughed at him as he chucked his food away and grabbed another bowl of it.

She calmed down as they carried on eating their food in silence. Katara, feeling brave, looked at Aang to study him. She tugged at her hood so it covers her eyes, hoping that he can't tell that she's looking at him.

She takes in everything from his stormy grey eyes to his unusual clothes that cover every inch of him. A black headband with a yellow symbol on it, a dark red t-shirt with yellow at the hem of the sleeves and the top of his collar. A long, black sleeved top that's underneath his shirt which covers the backs of his hands just so his fingers are sticking out. Long black pants with the same symbol as the one on his headband except this one is dark green down the side and tucked into his shoe. She also noticed how his glider has blue wings. _'all the colours of the nations' Katara thought 'Black and red for fire nation, yellow for air nomads, green for Earth Kingdom and blue for water tribe...Stop it Katara!' She mentally scolded herself. 'You'll only get your hopes up again!' _She knew this guy was hiding something but it was none of her business. She kept telling herself that but the more she told herself, the more curious she got. She lowered her eyes back down to her food and continued to eat.

Aang covertly glanced up at Katara through the flames to study her as well. He also knew that she was hiding something and it seemed to be her identity that she was hiding. He came up with that conclusion when he kept seeing her pulling her hood down even further. The big jacket she has on over her traditional blue watertribe kimono, covers her from her knees up to just under her chin. The hood that she constantly has on covers most of her face but when she looks at him he can see her cerulean coloured eyes with her dark loose hair that flows down the front of her shoulders. He had noticed how she rolled only one sleeve of her jacket up. He tilted his head curiously and decided to look into it. He saw a dark blue wristband on against her tanned skin but kept rising his eyes higher until he reached her upper arm which had a torn piece of cloth wrapped around it. He raised his eyebrow confused until he realized what it could be.

"Is that where you got burnt?" He asked pointing at her arm.

She looked at him then to where he was pointing and nodded. "Yeah, I haven't learnt how to heal yet" She said a little sad.

"Maybe I can help" Aang said standing up and making his way over to Appa. He airbended his way onto the back of Appa's saddle, careful not to wake him and rummaged through a small bag. He pulled out a couple of things and made his way back down to Katara. He sat down beside her and made a move to take the cloth off but she moved her arm away.

"It's okay. It'll heal" She said smiling sadly.

"No it will scar. Let me help, I promise I'm not trying to hurt you." Aang reassured her. She looked at him and reluctantly let him help.

He reached out again and started to untie the knot. Once the cloth was off Aang looked at it horrified. The centre of the burn was pink and weeping, it was inflamed and swollen around the outside of it, luckily there was no scab forming or else trying to heal it would be very painful.

"I've put water on it, if that helped" Katara said after seeing his reaction to seeing her burn.

"This could get infected and you could get really sick." Aang informed her as he grabbed the leaf that he pulled out of his bag. He made his over to the campfire and put the leaf in the water of the smaller pot over the fire to boil.

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"Uncle, look!" Zuko exclaimed pointing to a light in the distance. "Let's move. We've nearly got him!" He ordered as they marched towards the light.

Uncle sighed and looked at the ground. His eyes lit up as he spotted a very curious flower. He was more interested in the flower than going towards a source of light, so he sat down and studied the plant.

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Once the leaf had boiled Aang used airbending on the outside of the pot to help cool it down. He grabbed it and sat back down next to Katara with a clean cloth in his other hand.

"This may sting a little" Aang warned her. She nodded and bit her lip. He placed his hand on the back of her arm and moved it towards him. He dipped the clean cloth in what looked like yellow mud and gently started to apply it to her burn. She studied him again as he was dabbing this stuff on her arm. She didn't have the flames of the fire to obscure her vision this time but her hood did keep getting in the way.

She saw how gentle he was trying to be but when she got a closer look at his eyes, she could see so much pain held within them but also, a look of century's worth of wisdom. She looked down at his hand and could have sworn she saw something blue at the back of it. She looked at it confused when Aang interrupted her.

"Done!" He smiled proudly at her. Katara blinked and realized that she'd been staring at him the whole time.

She looked down at her arm and saw her burn covered in the yellow mud. It created a cooling sensation in which she liked. "Thanks"

"Don't mention it" Aang said smiling at her. "Wait! I should really cover it, hang on." He stood up and airbended himself onto Appa again and grabbed another clean cloth from the same bag. He jumped off of Appa to sit next to her and carefully took her arm in his hand and started to wrap the cloth around.

"What did you use anyway?" Katara asked curiously.

"It's called green flower plant. It's a flower that has leaves that grow as petals and if you pick them at the right time then you can use it to help heal burns and deep cuts." He said simply.

"You must get burned and cut a lot to know that a flower can do that" Katara pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that" Aang chuckled. He made the finishing touches on the cloth and smiled fondly at his work.

Katara was about to say something when an alarming growl came from the once silently sleeping Appa. Aang jumped straight up and went to him. "What is it boy!?" He asked his best friend concerned. Appa though was looking over Aangs shoulder and snarling at the figure behind him.

"Aang! Look out!" Katara cried. She jumped up and grabbed her canteen full of water and got in her fighting stance.

Aang whirled around to find firebenders surrounding them. He looked to where he last left his staff but found it wasn't there. His eye's searched frantically for his staff but he couldn't see it.

"Looking for something?" A cold voice asked. Aang looked at the person in front of him. He had a scar surrounding his left eye and Aang's staff in his right hand.

"You..." Aang said surprised as he pointed an accusing finger at this person. "You captured me!"

"That I did" The stranger said smugly.

"Aang? Who is this guy?" Katara asked keeping her eyes focused on the firebenders around them.

"No one!" Aang said bluntly with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"That hurt me...Avatar" He said sarcastically

"Avatar!? Boy have you got your airbenders crossed!" Katara said amused at his accusation.

"Shut up peasant!" He spat at Katara

"Do you want to run that by me again?" Katara challenged him and turned her full attention to him.

"Stay out of this Katara!" Aang warned her.

She gave Aang a hard look before returning her attention back to the other firebenders.

"What do you want Zuko!?" Aang asked angrily.

"I'm here to capture you" Zuko announced.

"I'm not the Avatar!" Aang said laughing a little.

"Then how did you go into the Avatar state and destroy my ship?" Zuko asked frustrated.

"It's called airbending, hot head!"Aang replied wittingly.

"Stop playing with me Avatar!"

"Who's playing?" Aang asked innocently.

"Just come with me silently and I won't have to hurt you or your girlfriend." He reasoned.

"I'm not the Avatar! He died, a long time ago with the rest of my race." Aang said sadly.

"And I'm not his girlfriend" Katara added in.

Zuko looked down at her snarling. "You can't trick me Avatar!" He said stubbornly turning his attention back to Aang.

"Are you deaf or stupid!? How many times does he have to tell you? He's. Not. The. Avatar!" Katara said emphasizing each word.

"Silence water scum! This doesn't concern the likes of you!" Zuko said disgusted. Before he could react Katara had slapped him with a water whip and smiled smugly at him.

"Why you little- -" That little distraction was enough for Aang to air scooter his way to Zuko and snatch his staff back.

"Thanks!" Aang called out cheekily. He stopped and got into his fighting stance behind Katara, so they are back to back. The firenation soldiers surrounded them with spears or fire occupying their hands.

"ATTACK!" Zuko shouted his command and the firebenders did as told.

Aang and Katara started to dodge the fire balls that were launched their way. Aang then swung his staff like a baseball bat and blew the soldiers away. A few got knocked out because they hit their heads but the others got back up and charged. Katara tipped her water on the ground then started to spread it across the ground.

"What're you doing!?"

"Just distract them!" Katara demanded waving off the question.

Aang shrugged and charged at the soldiers. He saw Appa behind them and smiled as he got an idea. He kept running at the soldiers when, at the last second, he jumped and opened his glider. He flew over their heads and dodged the jabs and fireballs. The soldiers followed him with their eyes and saw a big, white, furry beast growling menacingly at them.

"Good boy Appa!" Aang said smiling triumphantly on top of him. The soldiers all stayed frozen with fear to one spot.

"Katara! Whatever you're going to do, do it now!" Aang shouted as she created a massive wave with the water she tipped on the ground.

"Way ahead of you!" She let the massive wave wash over them but it was as powerful as having a bucket of water poured over someone.

"That...That was your big idea!" Aang shouted at Katara. "You're suppose to knock them out not give them a shower!"

"I'm getting to that!" Katara snapped back at Aang. She pulled her hood down further and smirked a little as she took a deep breath in and she cupped her mouth with her hands, like she was about to shout but instead exhaled heavily.

Aang watched as something white was crawling over the soldiers' skin and encasing them in clear ice.

"Good work Katara!" Aang said admiring her work.

"Aang!"

He looked up alarmed at how distressed she sounded. "Let her go Zuko!" Aang threatened him. He jumped down from Appa and had his staff pointing menacingly at Zuko.

He had Katara in a tight grip around her neck and stomach. She was trying desperately to break free of his hold by stomping backwards on his fee but dodged them every time.

"Aang! Just attack him already!" Katara tried to convince him.

Zuko tightened his grip around her making her stomp at the ground again. Aang had finally made his decision and started to grip his staff tightly ready to swing.

"If you know what's good for her Avatar...you'd drop your weapon" Zuko warned him. Smoke stared coming from his hands as Katara gritted her teeth to fight back the pain. Aang saw her pain even from under her hood and froze to the spot with his eyes glued to Zukos arms.

"Please Zuko! Let her go! You're business is with me" Aang reasoned with him.

"It's your fault for getting her involved Avatar."

She tried in one last resort to stomp at his feet again but it only managed to make more smoke come out of his hands, making Katara stop and squeeze her eyes shut as the pain got overwhelmingly painful.

"Aang!" Katara called out in agony.

Her cry for help was enough for Aang to snap. He dropped his staff and boomed with a voice that was not his own. "Let her go!" In a blink, his eyes changed from gray to glowing.

"Aang?" Katara asked herself mostly. Seeing who she thought was a fun loving boy one second and the next a powerful eye glowing bender frightened her more than anything at the moment. Zuko loosened his grip on Katara enough for her to realize and slip from his hands and fall to the ground rubbing her neck.

Zuko watched the boy in awe. "The Avatar state" He whispered to himself. The young boy's eyes were glowing and under his headband and sleeves he could see the same glow from his eyes brimming out from underneath his clothes. Aang blasted Zuko on to a rock which instantly knocked him out cold. The blast tore at Katara's jacket making the hood come off and making something fall out of the pocket.

He slowly started to rise but Katara acted quickly and unsteadily got to her feet and grabbed his hand. His twisted face glared at her frightened features but she didn't falter. "Aang! Stop it! I'm fine now!" That didn't really help as Katara noticed the wind getting stronger and it was getting harder for her to hold onto him. "I know I haven't known you for long but this isn't you!" Katara shouted over the gust again.

There was no response again, but that just made her more frustrated. "Don't make me freeze you and your food again!"

His facial expressions softened as the wind died down and he slowly touched the ground. His glowing eyes returned to being gray but heavy as he leaned on Katara who was caught off guard and fell to the ground but was still able to hold him and herself up.

"Aang, are you okay?" She asked him quietly

"Appa? I didn't know you could talk" He replied closing his eyes.

Katara smiled as she stared at him and said to herself. "He's delusional after being in the Ava..." She trailed off as realization just slapped her in the face. This 15-year-old boy, just one year younger than her, is the Avatar. The Worlds last hope.

Katara's thoughts were interrupted as Appa nuzzled her with his massive head. She looked up at the beast and picked Aang up from under his knees and at the back of his neck. She somehow managed to get on Appa and carefully lay Aang down next to her. She pulled her hood back on and sighs to herself as she thinks of the command Aang says to make Appa fly.

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**And there we have it...I am so glad to finally get this chapter off my computer. The first chapter and this chapter had been sitting in my computer for such a long time now! But the next few chapters I'm going to have to write anew...oh well thanks for reading and remember R&R:D**


	3. Searching and Talking

**WOW!!! It has been a seriously long time since I last updated this story lol...but I have now figured out what is going to happen in the next few chapters so I should be able to update more regularly than I have been=D**

**Anyways, disclaimer: I don't own anything...I'm not very creative today...**

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"Zuko!" Uncle yelled as he came stumbling into the battlefield. He looked around the place and saw burnt tree trunks, trees ripped from their roots and firebenders either knocked out or helping each other defrost.

Uncle looked around distressed and heard moaning from his right. He looked in that direction and saw a pair of legs sticking out from under a fallen branch. He went over and pulled the branch off of a very groggy Zuko trying to get up. "Easy Zuko" Uncle said gently pushing him back down.

"Uncle, what happened?" Zuko asked rubbing his head.

"I don't know you tell me"

"The waterbender peasant...I captured her...I burnt her and..." Zuko bolted up with his eyes wide. "He went into the Avatar state! That kid did this!" Zuko said looking alarmed at the wind torn site.

"It's okay Zuko, he's gone now"

"WHAT!?" He bellowed. He got out of his Uncles restraints and stood up. "We have to go after them!"

"Zuko! We don't even know which way they went" Uncle informed him.

"I don't care Uncle! That kid has my honour and he doesn't even know it!" He enforced. He turned around to where the guards were but found that they weren't there.

"Where are my guards?" Zuko asked his Uncle

"I don't know. They were here a second ago."Uncle said looking as puzzled as Zuko.

"THEY RAN AWAY!?" Zuko shouted furiously.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me" Uncle smiled reassuringly to Zuko.

"Fine!" Zuko spat and stormed off. Uncle's smile dropped but followed Zuko all the same.

As they were making their way out of the campsite, Zuko kicked something and it rolled lightly in front of him. He stopped and looked down at it curiously. It was a screwed up piece of paper which Zuko would normally ignore but picked it up and straightened it out to see a familiar face smirking back at him. He studied it curiously as a smile curved his lips. His mind was reeling with a plan.

"Recognize this person Uncle?" Zuko asked holding up the picture for his Uncle to turn around and see.

His Uncle looked at it and frowned. "Can't say I do nephew"

Zuko just gave him a tired look and pointed at the paper. "That's how we get the Avatar" Zuko said smiling deviously at his Uncle.

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Aang awoke with the cold wind on half his face. He felt cold from the wind on one half but warm on the other. He opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times to try and adjust to the morning light and wind. He looked up and saw Katara with her hood up, as usual, sleeping next to him. "Oh..." he thought in realization, he had been using her shoulder as a pillow, that's why half of his face was warm.

He looked at her and how peaceful and calm she looks. He studied her for a bit longer when he realized that he could take advantage of this. Being brave, he started to reach up and was about to grab her hood when she grasped his wrist instead.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" She said with her eyes still closed. He looked at her hand clasped around his wrist then at her supposed sleeping form and back to her hand, utterly shocked.

"But how did...?" Aang trailed off quietly.

"I know?" Katara finished for him finally opening her eyes. He merely nodded.

She let go of his wrist and replied: "My brother is a warrior, he taught me a few things" She shrugged. "Plus, you're really noisy when you wake up"

"Oh...well, morning" Aang replied smiling.

"Yeah, morning" Katara replied yawning and stretching her arms above her head.

"So how'd I get up here?" He asked Katara confused as he looked down at the tiny specks of fields speed past from Appa's head.

"You passed out so I had to carry you on Appa" She replied like it was nothing. She pulled her hood down further, making sure it doesn't fly off from the wind.

"How'd you know the command to make him fly?"

"I didn't remember at first but I remembered while I was packing our stuff away"

"Oh, good thing you did"

Silence came over the two as they sat on Appa's head. The wind filling their ears and the sun fully raised in the cloudless day, made the silence somewhat comfortable.

But something was still blank in Aang's memory. "Why did I pass out?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I guess you were tired from the Avatar state" Katara replied calmly and kept her line of vision straight ahead.

Aang on the other hand, turned and looked at her with wide eyes. _'I did not go in the Avatar state in front of her!' _He thought to himself. _'She looks so calm though' _he gave her a quizzical look and asked:

"Aren't you mad that I didn't tell you?"

"I never said I wasn't mad, I'm just surprised more than I am angry"

"About what?"

"I thought that the Avatar died along with the rest of his race ten years ago and yet..." She looked at him with a frown. "...here you are"

He looked down at his hands folded in his lap as the unwanted memories filled his thoughts. Katara continued though which made him look up at her as she shook her head slightly in disbelief.

"You're a year younger than me Aang and you have the weight of the world on your shoulders." She said turning to face him. She laughed sarcastically as she said. "And I thought I had problems."

"Yeah well, you get use to it" Aang replied smiling a little.

"Don't think I'm not still mad at you though." Katara reinforced sternly. Aang met her eyes and opened his mouth to protest but Katara interrupted.

"You should have told me you were the Avatar!"

"I didn't think it mattered"

"It does matter! The firenation are hunting you down Aang, and if I'm going to travel with you then I have to know what could be around the corner!" Katara reasoned.

"We're only going to the North Pole together." Aang pointed out stubbornly.

"No, whether you like it or not I'm going with you until you fight the firelord." She said in a tone that sounded like her final decision.

"Who said anything about fighting the firelord!?" He asked defensively.

"Well aren't you?" She asked knowingly. When he looked away from her burning gaze she knew she was right. "You don't need to do this alone." She said softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged off her hand and raised his voice. "Yes I do! You saw what happened back there! They'll use you to get to me! That's why I have to travel alone!" Aang reasoned. "Anyone I talk to in a passing village gets hurt!" He added to prove his point.

"I can take care of myself" Katara fired back meeting his volume.

"Yeah, you really convinced me of that back there." Aang retorted pointing at the burns under her chin.

"What if that had been you that Zuko had captured and I wasn't there? What would you do then!?"

"He's captured me before and I escaped just fine then, that's why I destroyed his ship." Aang said rather smugly.

"Gee, destroying his ship did a whole lot of good!" Katara said sarcastically. "Was that supposed to prove something? That you're the all powerful Avatar! That everyone should go out of their way to bow down and kiss the ground where you've walked!?" Katara asked harshly, nearly shouting.

That did it for Aang. This girl had been prodding and poking him in sensitive places. "I NEVER ASKED TO BE THE AVATAR!!" He exploded at her as he stood up. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME SO JUST BACK OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He jumped onto Appa's saddle and grabbed his staff, he jumped off and in one fluid movement opened his glider and flew off in the opposite direction.

Katara just sat there. Speechless, thoughtless...totally blank. She would've never picked Aang to be the angry type. _'He'll be back' _she thought after awhile, almost triumphantly. _'I have Appa and his stuff'_

Although her usual stubborn side would've made her carry on in the same direction, something in the pit of her stomach was churning, but being a pride driven person, she decided to ignore her sickening gut and focused her vision on what could come up in front of her.

The sun was starting to set as the stars fought their way to be seen. Although she wouldn't admit it, Katara started to get worried. Aang has been gone all day and there is no sign of him. There is also no sign of her gut residing as it relentlessly bubbles in the pit of her stomach. Even Appa's sending her a couple of grunts in protest when she tugs at the reins to change to a direction where Aang was not. That did not help her stomach. He had been going at a slower pace than usual because of Aang's absence; as a result, they haven't actually travelled far.

'_I can't believe he would leave Appa.'_ The young waterbender thought to herself. She sighed and shook her head at herself. _'I can't believe I chose my pride over the world's last hope.'_

She looked at her hands and at the reins occupying them. Determination etched her face as she swallowed her pride, clenched her fists and pulled at the reins to make Appa turn around. He made a sort of 'told you so' grumble at Katara.

"Yeah, whatever" Katara replied in a tone that suggests that she's smiling. She tugged on her hood as she began to scan the forest below.

The sun has fully set as the stars shine proudly in the cloudless, velvet sky. Katara reached a huge field and decided to use it as a sort of rendezvous point. She would head off in one direction then if she felt as if Aang wasn't there then she would go back to the field and head in a different direction.

The quarter moon shone brightly from the centre of the sky, an indication for her, saying that it's around midnight. She had gone in every direction and still no sign of Aang. But she did see an earth kingdom village off North West way. She had to remember that.

She and Appa were getting tired though, so once they reached the field again she set Appa down and as soon as his paws touched the ground he collapsed onto his side, prompting Katara to fall off of his head and hit the ground with a thud and went out like a light.

"Ouch! Appa!" Katara complained sitting up while rubbing her shoulder. A loud snort emitted through his mouth as an indication that he's asleep. It blew her hood off and a few strands of hair fell on her face. She huffed and blew at a strand of hair as she lay back down. She stared at the stars and the quarter moon as millions of thoughts ran through her head.

Katara sighed and sat up. She knew Appa would be fine so she got up and set off on a midnight walk. She didn't know exactly where she'll be going but didn't care. She kept her hood off for no one was around to see her face or her neck. She kept her gaze to the ground as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

After what felt like only a few minutes for Katara, she stopped as she came to the edge of a cliff. A beautiful view, with the stars and sky endlessly stretching to the end of the earth. She looked down and heard the rush of water from far below. She sat down and sighed tiredly as she thought of the past events, but looking up at the diamonds in the sky somehow made her forget all of that.

She brought her knees up to her chest and let her arms rest lazily on her knees as she star gazed. _'How can the stars at night be so calm, even when the world that they're looking down on is in total chaos?'_ She asked herself in her head.

"You have your hood off" A voice pointed out.

Katara jumped and subconsciously pulled her hood back on and stood up preparing for a fight. She saw who it was and relaxed out of her stance.

"Well, you did have your hood off" The voice pointed out again.

"Aang, where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Katara asked, relieved that she found him and that she doesn't have to fight.

"Well, I've actually been here for a while." He said walking next to Katara and sitting down. He laid his staff next to him and brought his knees up and sat like Katara had.

"But I've flown over at least 10 times, and I didn't see you."

"More like 13 times"

"Wait, you knew and you didn't try to catch my attention or anything?"

"Obviously not." Aang replied in a monotone, looking like he doesn't care.

Katara sat close to him and hugged her knees to her chest. "Why not?" She asked, turning her head so as she can see him from under her hood.

"I just needed some time to figure out this Avatar thing, you know"

A silence fell between them as they looked at the view before them. Katara decided to break the silence. She focused her eyes on Aang and studied his clothes before asking. "Is that why you wear all those clothes? To cover up your identity?" Katara asked as she scanned her eyes over the mass of clothing that covers every inch of him. He merely nodded and looked back at the view, looking to be deep in thought.

"I'm sorry Aang." She said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it" Aang said like it was nothing.

"You're not mad?" Katara asked looking at him surprised.

"I'm a forgive and forget kind of guy" He said smiling at her.

She studied him through his eyes before smiling half heartedly. "It's okay to be angry"

"You know Katara, for me to be a forgive and forget type of guy I need to forget it and to forget it, it would help if you don't bring it up." Aang said joking. "That's kind of the whole point." Katara giggled a little at him as he smiled back at her.

A slight breeze was the only thing they heard while in a long silence, before Katara broke it again.

"So have you figured out the Avatar thing yet?"

His face darkened under the moonlight and he sighed and lay back against the soft grass with his hands behind his head. "All I know is that as the Avatar, I have a duty to the people. But other than that, it's a work in progress." He said slowly. Katara smiled sympathetically at him before turning back to look at the view.

"But do you know what I don't get?" He asked distractedly.

"What's that?"

"How can the stars be so calm as they watch the world destroy itself?"

Katara looked down at Aang surprised, that's exactly what she thought. "I'm still thinking about that one too." She said looking back at him to find his grey eyes on her. Katara, though, quickly broke the connection with a tug of her hood, which prompted Aang to question her.

"Why do you always have you hood up?" He asked sitting up and looking at what he can see of her face, as she is looking straight ahead with her hood on.

"I don't always have it on" Katara said defensively.

"No, but you only take it off if you're by yourself" Aang challenged.

Katara sighed and shrugged. "I guess it's kind of like a security thing. It's comforting to know that I have it on."

Aang was quite curious about her appearance for some reason. He hasn't seen her full face because of her hood and he's pretty eager to have even a glimpse of her face with her hood off.

"So you keep your hood on because you feel safer with it?" Aang asked.

Katara scrunched up her face and moved her head, half nodding, half shaking. "Kind of" She replied slowly.

"What do you mean?" he asked as his eyes shined with curiosity.

She looked at him and sighed as she found a blade of grass fun to look at. She lifted her hand to the collar of her jacket and hesitantly pulled it down a bit to reveal a shiny pendent that hugged her neck. She twisted her body so Aang could see what she was revealing.

"See this necklace?" Katara asked him quietly. He nodded and Katara let her collar loose so it covered her necklace. She sighed again but carried on.

"It was my mums. Her mother passed it down to her and I received it from her" Katara began and kept focus on that blade of grass. Aang cocked is head to the side, giving her a quizzical look. "I don't know I guess I just feel as though no one can touch my necklace if they can't see it" She shrugged.

"So your hood is like a guard for your necklace and whenever you have it on it's a sense of security and comfort knowing that no one can touch it" Aang concluded.

Katara looked up at him, surprised that he understood where she was coming from and nodded a little. A silence hung over them when Aang finally spoke up.

"The monks use to tell us: 'You remember what you want to forget and forget what you want to remember'"

Katara sat there thoughtfully for a little while until she frowned and looked at Aang. "I don't get what you're trying to say" She said confused.

"Well..." He sighed as he tried to think of the best way to explain. He looked straight ahead as he started to talk slowly. "...You know you can control what your memory can hold and, no possession can affect that."

"Yeah, but it helps" Katara said smiling slightly.

"Then why would you hide it?" He asked a little confused but happy in his mind that she took the bait.

"I told you, so no one can take it away from me"

"But if you need it to remember your mum then burying it under your jacket will just bury the memories, won't it?" Katara remained silent as she watched the grass bow to the wind.

"Your mother would want you to be proud of her for all the things she has done for you and your family." He said standing up. "Try not to forget her Katara" He said and left to reunite with Appa.

Katara was confused on what Aang said. She wondered why or how he thought she could ever forget her mother. She huffed out a frustrated sigh and stood up, she turned around to go back in the same direction that Aang left but saw a glimpse of light from within the forest. She looked to see if Aang was still around and found that he wasn't. So she pulled her hood down tighter and crept into the forest.

She followed the source of light and found a firenation encampment. She ducked behind a bush and looked around and saw a lot of supplies. She looked up at the moon and found that it was still near the middle of the sky, indicating that it's still the middle of the night.

'_More than enough time'_ she thought. Still staying low, the waterbender turned around and headed towards Appa and Aang. Upon reaching them she quietly hoped that Aang was asleep. Fortunately he was. She grabbed her water skin and smirked while pulling her hood down further. She turned around to make sure Aang was still asleep and she swiftly left their campsite and headed back into the forest.

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**I'm sorry that it's not exactly the most interesting of chapters to come back to but hey, it's only going to lead into more and exciting chapters...well, hopefully. :S**

**Please R&R**


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